Monthly Archives: April 2013

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Charles Huerta of Paramount lost consecutive fights in 2011, but he has rebounded with back-to-back knockouts.

The most recent came Saturday when he clocked Jonathan Alcantara, dropping him with a huge right hand in the first round. Alcantara got up, but was in no condition to continue, Huerta getting a first-round technical knockout at 1:30 of the round at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario on the undercard of Chris Arreola-Bermane Stiverne.

Huerta, 26, is now 18-3 with 11 knockouts. Alcantara, 24, of Novato, Calif., is 6-10-2. Their featherweight bout was scheduled for six rounds.

It’s been well-documented that Floyd Mayweather Jr. spent two months in Clark County Detention Center (in Nevada) in 2012 for a domestic abuse conviction.

During a conference call this week, Mayweather spoke in humble tones. He thanked everyone in his camp for putting together a terrific promotion for his May 4 welterweight title defense against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view). He also thanked his publicist for doing what he said most would not.

“I like the way Kelly Swanson, she wrote me letters every day,” Mayweather said. “Thank you. You’re the best publicist in the world.”

Swanson was conducting the conference call.

“I’m not just saying that,” Mayweather said. “I don’t know about anybody else’s publicist that wrote them every day when they were locked up.”

Swanson, who is based on Washington D.C., is one of the top publicists in the game. She said via text message Friday that she did try to write Mayweather every day because Mayweather has done a lot for her.

“It was the least I could do while he was going through it,” she texted.

As Floyd Mayweather Jr. would say, 43 have tried, 43 have failed. True, but perhaps none of Mayweather’s 42 opponents – he fought Jose Luis Castillo twice – were as aligned with the main upstairs like Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is with Him.

Yes, Mayweather is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. However, Guerrero is confident He has put him in this spot so he can hand Mayweather his first setback when they square off May 4 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).

“God’s putting me in this position for a reason and God’s groomed me and prepped me for this time to take over boxing,” said Guerrero, who will challenge Mayweather for his welterweight title.

Guerrero is a devout Christian, so he’s very serious about this.

“That’s why it’s like a modern day David and Goliath,” he said. “You’ve got David, who God anointed him and put him through the fire, who took on bears and lions and tigers, wolves, and nobody recognized it. And when it came time to fighting Goliath, everybody thought he was unbeatable. And David came along, took him on and slayed him with a slingshot and some pebbles. That’s why I say, God’s put me in this position for a reason.”

Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin nearly lost his middleweight title when he weighed in at 161 1/2 pounds Friday for his Saturday title defense against Fernando Guerrero at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime). The limit is 160.

Quillin was given two hours to lose the weight, and he did, weighing 160 on the second try. Had he not made it on that second attempt, he would have been stripped of his belt.

Guerrero initially was over, by .4 pounds. He, too, made it on his second try.

Quillin and Guerrero will be the main support bout underneath the Danny Garcia-Zab Judah junior welterweight title fight.

Quillin, 29, is 28-0 with 20 knockouts. He will be attempting to make his first successful title defense.

Guerrero, 26, is 25-1-1 with 19 knockouts. This will be the southpaw’s first shot at a major title.

Zab Judah needed two attempts to make the 140-pound weight limit for Saturday’s challenge to junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime). Judah weighed in just over the limit on his first attempt. He then stripped down all the way and made it.

Judah, of Brooklyn, is 42-7 with 29 knockouts.

Garcia, of Philadelphia, was booed when he stepped on the scale. He weighed 139.8 pounds. He is 25-0 with 16 knockouts.

This bout figures to be a good one as long as it lasts as bad blood exists between the respective camps. Not surprisingly, Angel Garcia, father and trainer of Danny, has been blamed by Judah as the instigator.

“Angel Garcia made himself a factor,” Judah said. “Danny is so quiet, such a church mouse, that they don’t know who he is.”

Normally, weigh-ins are very boring. Even when there are 6,500 Manny Pacquiao fans at one of his, a weigh-in is a weigh-in and not much happens. But we want to see Friday’s featuring junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia and challenger Zab Judah. The two camps have clashed twice this week at fight-promoted events, and there seems to be genuine bad blood between the sides.

The weigh-in will take place at 10 a.m. from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, site of Saturday’s fight (on Showtime). It can be viewed via satellite, YouTube, Ustream and online at sports.sho.com/live.

Lightweight champion Adrien Broner, a rapidly rising star from Cincinnati, will move up two weight classes to challenge Paulie Malignaggi for his welterweight championship June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime), Golden Boy Promotions announced Thursday.

Broner won a junior lightweight title in November 2011, then won a lightweight title this past November. It would not be surprising to soon see him atop respected pound-for-pound polls. He’s that good.

“Paulette better be in some shape,” the trash-talking Broner said. “On June 22, I will be a three-time world champion in three weight classes at just 23 years old.”

Broner is 26-0 with 22 knockouts.

The light-hitting Malignaggi, of Brooklyn, is stoked about being the main event in his hometown.

“This fight was the main motivation for winning my second world championship last year,” said Malignaggi, a former junior welterweight champion. “I wanted to be a huge main event at Barclays Center. This is a blockbuster event and I can’t wait to make a successful title defense in Brooklyn, where my roots are.”

Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin will make the first defense of his middleweight title Saturday when he squares off with Fernando Guerrero on the undercard of the Zab Judah-Danny Garcia junior welterweight championship fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime).

One might say Quillin is in love with his 160-pound division, which has always been one of the premier weight classes in boxing.

“I’m just very blessed to be part of a division that is always an attractive weight class,” said Quillin, of Grand Rapids, Mich. “The middleweights, you’ve got the speed and then you have the power. It’s like 50/50

“It’s an action-packed weight class. I just want to make sure that when I go out there, I’m adding my own part of history to that.”

Quillin, 29, is 28-0 with 20 knockouts. Guerrero is 25-1 with 19 knockouts.

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